In April of 2018, Governor Andrew Cuomo passed a law that all public restrooms must have baby changing tables in men's rooms as well. This law went into effect in 2019 and now, as we near the end of 2019, there should be changing tables in all public mens restrooms across New York State.This includes restaurants, stores, movie theatres, parks, etc. This is a big victory for dads and moms across the state. Having changing tables in only female restrooms is a completely outdated idea which shows that women are the only ones taking care of their babies. But this is 2019, and well, this certainly isn't the case anymore.
There are numerous reasons why there should be changing tables in men's restrooms as well as women's restrooms. First off, women are not the only people taking care of their children. Of course, there was a time when this was the typical case, but that was quite a long time ago. Nowadays, it's highly typical for a mother and father to share parental duties. This means, that yes, dad's are changing plenty of diapers too. With equal co-parenting being a normal lifestyle, when it's dads turn to change the baby's diaper he should have the ability to do so. In a Pew study, 63% of dads say they spend too little time with their kids. Although it is just changing a diaper, this can mean a lot, to be able to take part in all aspects of a babies life. Not only this, but when there weren't changing tables in men's restrooms, then the task was most likely put on the mother, which is also unfair.
There are also many situations where a woman isn't present to change the baby. There are single fathers, gay dads and fathers who take their kids out without a woman, all over the country. What are they going to do, hand their baby off to the next woman they see entering a bathroom? Of course not. Instead, they're forced to change their babies on the bathroom floor, in their laps, or anyway way they can figure it out. This is a very sad and unacceptable thing for these men to have to do, but what other choice do they have.
A man went viral for his Instagram post showing him squatting in a bathroom in attempts to change a baby's diaper. He received a lot of feedback from other fathers who understood his struggle, starting the #SquatForChange movement. This post went viral because it was relatable to too many men and because anyone who saw it knew this was unacceptable.
This law is a celebration of a new era of parenting. One that allows both fathers and mothers the ability to take care of their children when they are in public. It's crazy that it's taken this long to be recognized, but now hopefully New York State has set a standard that other states will follow. Every parent deserves the chance to care for their baby.
